CHAPTER 1 A NEW GOVERNMENT The American Revolutionary War 1775 1783 was finally over The United States was now independent But in 1783 the US government did not look the way it does today It was made up of one main body This body was known as the Congress of the Confederation Fighting ended in 1781 when George Washington accepted the surrender of a British general 5
The government had little power over the states For instance the Congress could not make the states follow the laws it created And there was nobody to solve disagreements about existing laws In 1787 US leaders called for a meeting in Philadelphia Pennsylvania They hoped this meeting would fix the federal government But some people at the meeting wanted to create a whole new government To do so they would write a new constitution One plan became popular Created by James Madison it was known as the Virginia Plan It said the new government would not have just one body Instead 6
The Constitution was written at Independence Hall in Philadelphia the government would split power between three branches The legislative branch known as Congress would create laws The executive branch would make sure people obeyed these laws 7
